Editorial overview: Plant morphogenesis-new understanding of its organization and evolution

Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.

The diverse plant life on Earth—consisting of nearly 400,000 species—can be divided into three broad categories based on biological characteristics: nonvascular, seedless vascular, and seed plants.

Plants are multicellular eukaryotes with tissue systems made of various cell types that carry out specific functions. Different tissues work together to perform a unique function and form an organ. Organs working together form organ systems. Vascular plants have two distinct organ systems: a shoot system and a root system. The shoot system consists of two portions: the vegetative (non-reproductive) parts of the plant, such as the leaves and the stems, and the reproductive parts of the plant,...

Plants grow throughout their lives; this is called indeterminate growth, and it distinguishes plants from most animals. Although certain parts of plants stop growing (e.g., leaves and flowers), others grow continuously—like roots and stems.

Animal and plant cells not only differ in their structure, function, and mode of nutrition but also in how they reproduce, specialize, and organize into complex structures.
Cell Division
Though both plant and animal cells divide by mitosis (for non-gametic cells) and meiosis (for gametic cells), they differ in the specifics of this process. Unlike animal cells, plant cells lack centrosomes — an organelle responsible for organizing the spindle fibers and segregating the chromosomes during...

Cell division is essential for organismal growth and development. In animal cells, the central spindle and its associated proteins form the midbody, a structure that has an essential role in cytokinesis. In plants, the central spindle, along with the microtubules, actin, and other cell components, matures into the phragmoplast, which is necessary for cytokinesis. Unlike the stationary midbody, the phragmoplast expands centrifugally, eventually leading to the formation of the new cell wall.
The...